


Lancelot and Guinevere and a Magic Reveal

by Onehelluvapilot



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s02e04 Lancelot and Guinevere, F/M, Gen, Inspired by Art, Inspired by Fanart, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed, no beta we die like women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: This is an AU version of what happens as the group makes their escape... What if Arthur had turned back after leading Gwen to the barred exit, and sees how Merlin ensures Hengist's death? How would Arthur react to the magic AND Lancelot's knowledge of it...Not sure if I did the original art justice, might try again and go a more dramatic route.





	Lancelot and Guinevere and a Magic Reveal

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lancelot and Guinevere - and a Magic Reveal! (ART)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12178356) by [whimsycatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsycatcher/pseuds/whimsycatcher). 



Lancelot instantly clamped a hand around Merlin's arm and shot a glance at Arthur that made it very clear to everyone involved whose side he would take if it came down to a fight. The torchlight made the high scar over his cheek stand out and said that this was not a threat or a man to be taken lightly. His lack of apparent surprise also told Arthur that the man had already known. He had met Merlin once before, for a few days. They hadn't shared a single word yet today. Arthur was around the goofy young man constantly. How had Lancelot known when the prince himself didn't?

“I'm sorry Arthur,” Merlin began to apologize as his eyes faded from the strange yellow to their normal(ish) blue. Lancelot cut him off from continuing to speak, or from the prince replying.

“We can deal with this later, but for now we need to get out of here,” he said sensibly.

He nodded for Arthur to take the lead down the tunnel. The prince quickly turned away, unable to look Merlin in the eye, and hurried down after Guinevere. He could hear the sorcerer and Lancelot behind him. Anger and hatred bloomed in him, as his dad had taught him to feel about magic users, but mostly he just felt betrayed. Merlin was supposed to be a loyal servant, and had become more than that. The two of them had risked their lives for each other. And now it turned out that Arthur had never really known his friend at all.

“What's wrong?” Gwen asked when the prince came into view in the low light of the tunnel. His internal conflict must've shown on his face.

“Nothing. Are you alright?” He asked the women. He'd been worried about what would happen after he rescued her, if he'd end up confessing his feelings for her by accident, but now, even though he could recognize that she looked beautiful in the golden light, he was too distracted by thoughts of Merlin to think too much of her.

“I'm perfectly fine,” she assured him, a hand on his arm. “What about you? And Merlin and Lancelot? Are they alright?” She craned her head to look over the prince's shoulder and Damn if that didn't hurt. She was close with Merlin. Did she know about him? Had she too been keeping the secret from him?

“They're fine, just a little ways behind me. Come, we need to move.” He took her hand and hurried with her down the corridor. The two of them reached a grate at the end of the tunnel, chained shut. Arthur jammed his sword into a loop and twisted to snap it. Lancelot and Merlin caught up while he was working on it. Gwen hugged the other servant and it spoke volumes when she didn't hug Lancelot. To Arthur, it seemed obvious that they must've connected earlier. Another person in his life that had betrayed him. He didn't have any right to expect fealty from her, as he'd never expressed his feelings for her to her, yet, he couldn't, but it stung anyway.

With an extra surge of strength, he broke the chain and shoved open the grate. He took Gwen’s hand again and helped her out of the tunnel. He didn't turn to check if Merlin and Lancelot were following.

“Where are your knights?” she asked.

“There aren't any,” Arthur said. “We came alone.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yep,” Merlin said, ever cheerful. He was doing a better job than the other man about keeping up appearances to her, pretending that nothing had changed. Arthur supposed he had a lot of practice.

“We should keep moving,” Lancelot insisted. He still had his sword bared, and kept it bared as he began to walk into the forest, keeping Merlin by his side by a guiding hand on his shoulder. Arthur followed, Gwen by his side.

“What is actually wrong?” she asked quietly. He could see that her gaze tracked Lancelot more than Merlin. “And don't you dare lie to me Arthur Pendragon.”

“I think all this masquerading as Morgana has put presumptions into your head that you can talk to me like that,” he joked, but it clearly didn't come out right as she whipped around to glare at him.

“If you can't tell me, that's fine, but don't insult me instead,” she barked at him and hiked up her skirt higher as she stomped away from him.

“Guinevere wait!” he called as she pulled ahead. A few quick steps and he caught up to her, though he refrained from grabbing her arm at the thought of her glare. “I didn't mean it that way. I appreciate your candid nature, I truly do.”

“I know I'm just a commoner and a servant, but I thought the fact that you came to rescue me meant that you didn't care about that so much,” she said, sounding betrayed herself.

“I don't,” he tried to explain. “That is why I came to rescue you, despite my father forbidding it.” If he was thinking clearly, he would have just told her that he came because Morgana begged him to. Distance himself from her because this was a romance that could never happen. Even if she wanted it to, which wasn't so clear because of Lancelot. With the other man, he supposed, she wouldn't have to worry about him treating her differently because she wasn't regal, because he wasn't either.

“This would be a good place to make camp,” Merlin noted a minute later, pulling to a stop and leaning his hands against his knees. Arthur suspected that the comment was more because he was tired than because of the quality of the site, but he wasn't wrong. The little dell was protected from the elements, full of dead leaves which would make it soft to sleep in, and hidden from prying eyes. Of course, it would quickly become a trap if they were found, but it seemed unlikely that anyone would even look for them. With Hengist dead, as Merlin had assured with his magic, no one was likely to be sent after a fake lady that Uther wouldn't pay ransom for.

“I'll go gather firewood,” Lancelot said after a look back at Gwen and Arthur. No one said anything to stop him, and Merlin began clearing an area at the bottom of the dell for a fire. Arthur found a log and dragged it over to near the fire for him and Gwen to sit on. Lancelot brought back an armful of wood and helped Merlin set it up to make a fire. When the woman was looking away, but Arthur wasn't for once, the sorcerer said a spell and his eyes lit up along with the fire. The prince supposed that he must have done that a lot. No one spoke, for the most part.

“Do you happen to have any food?” Merlin asked Lancelot once.

“No. Didn't think to grab any while we were fighting for our lives,” the fighter bantered, but it was good natured. Affectionate, even. “You?”

“Well, I had an apple in my pocket, but then Arthur and I had to change clothes to sneak in and rescue you, so. No.”

“We'll get some food tomorrow, I promise,” Arthur encouraged Guinevere.

“I'm alright, really,” she in turn assured him. “I think I'll just get some rest.”

“I'll keep guard, milady. You'll be safe,” Lancelot said in his rich voice. No wonder she was so clearly in love with him. He called her a lady instead of losing his tongue and insulting her.

She just nodded and went to find a comfortable place to lie down at the edge of the dell, nestled below a large tree root. The men sat by the fire, waiting until they could be sure she was asleep to talk.

“You know why I couldn't tell you Arthur,” Merlin started. He was right; the prince did know. It was because of his father, the Great Purge, the way he had been raised to hate magic.

“Why did you stay in Camelot?” Arthur asked softly. It was only because of Gwen sleeping not twenty feet away that he wasn't shouting. “In the castle of all places?”

“He stayed to protect you, sire,” Lancelot answered for the servant. His eyes seemed darker than when Arthur had last seen him, over a year ago, when he'd had ambitions of being a knight instead of a hired fighter. They had not lost that same sincerity though. “That's what Merlin has used his magic for; the good of Camelot.”

“Is that true?”

“Kilgharrah, the dragon, told me that we were two sides of the same coin,” Merlin said. “I believed, I still believe, that you will unite the land of Albion and bring peace and good magic back to the land. And you can't do that if you're dead, and given that you seem to have a powerful death wish, I figured that you would get yourself killed without me, so I stayed to look after you.” He said it lightly, almost jokingly, but the fear about how Arthur would react was not hard to see in his eyes.

“The dragon told you that,” the prince repeated. His servant nodded. “I'll unite, what did you say, Albion?” He nodded again. “God. Okay. And you're part of that goal?” Another nod. “And you're a sorcerer. You practice magic, have been practicing magic the entire time I've known you, in my presence.”

“Only for good, and a few practical jokes every now and then.”

“How can it be so trivial for you?” Arthur asked, his voice rising before he saw Lancelot glance in worry over at Gwen’s sleeping form. “How can you treat this so lightly? Magic killed my mother,” he snarled, struggling to keep his voice low. “I could have you executed for it.”

His eyes caught on movement in the low light, which turned out to be Lancelot putting his hand on the pommel of his sword.

“He won't go back to Camelot,” the man said, standing up, placing himself not subtly between the two other men.

“Lance!” the sorcerer in question protested, getting to his feet as well.

“It isn't safe Merlin.” The two of them turned to each other and began to argue in whispers. Arthur could only hear some of what Lancelot said, and nothing of the servant’s words. “I'm still banned; you can come with me…. not saying never, just not immediately. …him time…. Merls, please. … Thank you.”

Merlin turned to look at his former employer, maybe for the last time. “I'll leave,” he said. “If you want me back… send word through my mother in Ealdor. Gaius knows how to get in contact.”

“That's probably for the best,” Arthur agreed with a slow nod.

“What will you tell everyone?”

The prince thought for a brief moment. “If they care, because after all, you're just a servant, I'll say that you were badly injured in the fight and that I left you with a village healer. I'll tell Gaius the truth.”

“And Guinevere, sire?” Lancelot said softly.

“That Merlin went with you, for company.”

“Will you tell her I'm sorry, and that she has changed me forever?” The fighter asked, which made Arthur wonder just how much had gone on between them before her rescue.

“I will tell her,” Arthur agreed, out of respect for the man he knew should be a knight more than anything.

Merlin and Lancelot prepared to leave, though there wasn't much to do. They had nothing beyond what was on their person. Arthur stayed seated as they began to climb up to the lip of the dell. Before disappearing from sight, the younger man paused, turned around, and spoke.

“I still believe in you Arthur. You can be a great king, if you try.” And then he was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think. If you'd like to see it, I might try writing something with a duel like the original summary suggested.


End file.
